LightningBolt Claws
by BlackRain88
Summary: After centuries of dormant Panthera blood, the gene becomes active in Harry. Ron, upon seeing a black panther in the gardens, decides to make Harry his new pet. Who knew Ron always wanted a panther. What will happen when he realizes his new pet is Harry?


Disclaimer: I am not JKR. We all know she wrote the books. Why on earth is it neccessary to mention I do not own Harry Potter. As for the Panthera idea or any other for that matter, I have no doubt the idea has been written about before. The number one rule of fanfiction is that if the possibility exists, there are stories about it.

Warnings: If you see somthing you don't like, stop reading. I'm to list everything potentially upsetting that will happen in this story. Wouldn't that ruin the suprise? If it seems possible, be prepared for it. If you are incapable of doing this then why are you honestly reading fanfiction? Are you so niave to realize how many twisted crazy people write these stories? Don't worry though, I will not include anything too morbid like necrophilia, torture, suicide, or rape. And yes, I have seen such stories, even the necrophilia part, by accident mind you. -shudder- Oh, and lastly, this story is probably going to be slash, but I will not pair poor Harry with Voldemort, Dumbledore, or Filch, so don't worry.

Rating: M. The story is not particularly graphic now nor will it be in the very near future, but it will eventually be and I am far too lazy to change it.

Harry sighed with relief and engulfed one of his best friends Hermione in a grateful hug. "Thank you for telling me Hermione. I would have never found out on my own. You are so smart. I'm thankful to have such an intelligent young witch as my best friend. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you."

Hermione blushed. "Oh, stop bathing me in compliments. I'm just glad I could help you."

"And thank you for understanding me and not rejecting me because of this. I thought you guys would think I'm a freak or something."

Hermione gasped in surprise. "Harry! We would never think that about you. You know that."

"I know, but it's just … my relatives, you know? They told me I was even more of a freak…"

Hermione sighed and rubbed her arms across Harry's back. "Your relatives are horrible people Harry."

Harry smiled again and gave Hermione another thankful squeeze before withdrawing from her comforting hold slowly to face his other best friend, Ron, unsure of how he would react. After fourth year, Harry was afraid his best friend would be jealous of him and avoid him. Harry didn't think he could handle something like that happening again. To his surprise, Ron was gazing at him fascinated; his eyes filled with awe and shocked happiness.

"So you're a… Panthera? That is so cool." Ron looked Harry over, looking like a child entering their favorite candy store. He reached out his hand and started to stroke the trail of fur on his friends upper harm thinning out and disappearing at his elbow.

"What's got you acting like this, Ron?" Hermione asked her friend with a raised eyebrow.

"I love panthers…" Ron muttered, continuing to stroke Harry's furr.

Over the summer after his fourth year, Harry came into a rather bizarre and unexpected inheritance. The changes started from his return to the Dursleys and gradually got worse as time went on. At first, the changes weren't too noticeable. Harry started to walk with grace and elegance. Then, while running from Dudley and his gang after they decided to play their favorite game of 'Harry hunting', Harry discovered he could run with almost impossible speed and agility. He lost his pursuers in less than ten minutes. This shocked him to no end, but he decided to ignore it unless the changes became serious.

Soon, Harry found that his senses had increased immeasurably. He could hear a whispered conversation over two feet away, and he could smell almost anything for miles. These senses were overwhelming at first, but he eventually grew accustomed to them. The real problems began when he started to grow fur.

Harry chuckled as he remembered the day he dropped his brush in shock after a very early shower. He took his showers very early so as not to bother his easily annoyed relatives. What he saw shocked him. He wiped the mirror with his hand to clear it, and then held his hair away from his ears to see if he had seen correctly. His ears were streaked with pitch black fur! Over the next couple of weeks, fur started appearing in other places as well. On each arm, starting from the shoulder, fur extended down, the trail narrowing out until it reached his elbows, then disappeared. Over his tailbone, a patch of silky black fur grew as well, thinning out made a line up his back. The path of fur also continued downwards and traced down the sides of his thighs, ending at his knees.

Needless to say, these changes caused his relatives to throw him out of their house, saying they had enough of his "freakishness". Dumbledore sent him to stay at the burrow with Ron and Hermione. Harry was very happy with this change, but worried about what his friends would think of him. He sat on Ron's bed with Ron and Hermione now, and Hermione had just explained to him what was going on.

He apparently had Panthera blood in his ancestry line that was just showing now in Harry after centuries of lying dormant. The Panthera were an ancient race of humans who changed into panthers at will, depending on how much of the blood became active. If the blood came through inheritance, as it did with Harry, the changes would start sometime before the age of fifteen and complete at the fifteenth birthday. Harry's birthday was tomorrow, which caused him to be nervous. Hermione told him not to worry.

"Chances are", she told him, "You will only go through a couple of minor changes. Your furry ears will probably turn into those of a panther or cat, and you might grow a tail. Your teeth might sharpen, and well, you will probably have claws as nails when you get angry. Your fur patterns might change or shift a little, but other than that, I think you'll be fine. The chances of you becoming a full-blooded-Panthera are very rare, possible, but rare."

Very comforting.

Plus, as Ron had pointed out, "This is Harry we're talking about. With his luck, he'll be full-blooded just BECAUSE it's not likely to happen."

Full-blooded Panthera, on their fifteenth birthday, turn into panther's indefinitely. It might take them weeks, or even months, to change back into their more human appearance. Even then, they will only remain like this for short amounts of time, turning back into their panther form under the slightest provocation. They will only be able to remain human at will after they get pregnant.

The idea of giving birth when he was in fact, male, wasn't very appealing to Harry. While he wanted a family more than anything, Harry never thought that HE would have to be the one to produce the offspring.

So this all led to where they were now, the three of them sitting on Ron's bed as Ron revealed his fascination with panthers while stroking the line of fur on Harry's arm and Hermione looking at him with a questioning look.

"I never thought you were the type to like panthers Ron, especially after your grudge against my precious Crookshanks.

Ron rolled his eyes. "Okay, first of all Hermione, a cat is NOT a panther. Panthers are much more beautiful."

"Beautiful?" Hermione teased jokingly. Harry held back a laugh. He never thought Ron would ever use the word beautiful to describe any animal.

Ron glared. "Yes, _beautiful_! And I only hated Crookshanks in our third year because he was trying to kill my rat."

"You do know that a panther could EAT a rat in one bite, don't you?" Hermione asked.

"I wouldn't worry about that. It isn't like I'll ever be able to afford one anyway." Ron sighed sadly and ran the back of his fingers across Harry's fur, as if willing Harry to turn into a panther.

Harry's eyes lit up. Now he knew the perfect present to get Ron for Christmas. Now he only had to think of how to get one and sneak it into Hogwarts.

It was then that Mrs. Weasley walked in. "That's it you three. It's time to get some sleep. It's 10:30."

"Yes Mrs. Weasley." Harry and Hermione said before she wrapped the three into a hug.

"Goodnight Mum." Ron said.

"Sleep well you three," she cooed before leaving.

Hermione smiled and hugged her friends. "Goodnight boys."

"Goodnight Hermione." They responded, returning her hug.

After she left the boys got undressed and slipped into pajama pants. Before Ron went to sleep, he turned to look at Harry. His eyes swept over the fur trails along his body quickly, as if he couldn't help it, before looking into Harry's eyes. "Harry?"

"Yes Ron?"

"I'm really sorry."

Harry tilted his head to the side in confusion, a habit he had picked up recently, and furrowed his eyebrows. "Sorry for what?"

Ron averted his eyes and sighed guiltily. "For what I did last year. I was really wrong."

Harry smiled and walked over to Ron's bed and hugged him. "No worries Ron. Just don't do it again, okay? I don't think I could take it if I lost you again."

Ron looked horrified at the idea. "Never."

Harry smiled again and sighed in relief. "Goodnight Ron."

"Goodnight Harry."

At midnight, Harry woke up growling low in his throat. He felt different, anxious, predatory, and trapped. He leaped out of bed and walked smoothly and gracefully out of the room and house. He walked down the hallways and stairs and into the backyard before dropping to all fours and curling up on the grass. He lifted his head to stare at the garden gnomes running about, oddly fascinated. His tail flicked smoothly back and forth as he watched and his Black Panther ears flickered. He barely took a moment to ponder when these extra things appeared before going back to starting at the gnomes. He raised himself up on all fours once again and stretched out, his legs shifting changing shape and form along with his arms. The rest of his body changed too and he flexed his back smoothly. The process was oddly painless, comforting even. He opened his mouth and flexed his jaws as they extended and stretched out.

Soon, the process was complete. Harry realized that he should probably be worried and somewhat panicked, but instead, he simply excepted his predicament immediately, and grinned as much as a panther could grin and entertained himself with the garden gnomes.

Authors note: Feel free to vote on pairings. It's probably going to be Harry/Ron because that's just the way the story seems to be headed, but I will take your thoughts into consideration.


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